Ganrikisha's "A Dream" & "Change Your Life in 7 Steps"

Ganrikisha, literally the Eye Power Shrine, is a a popular stop among Japanese CEOs visiting Fushimi Inari because the gods enshrined here not only heal eyes but also help believers see into the future.

The bronze fox spouting water into a temizuya (water purification basin) here has been a landmark on the trail for the last 120 years.

Ganrikisha is a stop on the Alternative Fushimi Inari Walking Tour because Mdm Hatori, the caretaker of the Ganrikisha, has on a pillar a poem called “A Dream”. I like to read it out to guests on the tour. "A Dream" is popular among parents, and it’s something of a fixture in many a study room in Kyoto. You can get a copy for ¥1,000.

It encapsulates what Inariyama is all about - a place where people come to thank the gods when their dreams get fulfilled. After all, what are the torii gates but an expression of thanks for dreams come true?

Here’s the poem in Japanese, romanised Japanese, and translated into English (the original, in the photo below, is read right to left, top to bottom):